M. Blane Michael

M. Blane Michael was a United States circuit judge who served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 1993 until his death in 2011. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, and raised in West Virginia, he built a distinguished legal career that included service as a federal prosecutor, counsel to a state governor, and commercial litigator before his appointment to the federal bench by President Bill Clinton, a Democrat. His confirmation in 1993 marked a significant moment in the history of the Fourth Circuit, as he became the first federal judge appointed by a Democratic president in over a decade. Throughout his nearly eighteen years of judicial service, Michael contributed to important developments in federal law while serving on a court known for its conservative jurisprudence during much of his tenure.

Early life and legal career

Martin Blane Michael was born on February 17, 1943, in Charleston, South Carolina. He grew up in Grant County, West Virginia, where he would maintain deep roots throughout his life. His academic achievements began early, and in 1965 he graduated magna cum laude from West Virginia University with an Artium Baccalaureus degree. During his undergraduate years, he demonstrated leadership abilities by serving as student body president and earned election to Phi Beta Kappa, the prestigious academic honor society. Following his undergraduate education, Michael pursued legal studies at New York University School of Law, where he earned his Juris Doctor degree in 1968.

After law school, Michael began his legal career in private practice at Sullivan & Cromwell, a prominent New York law firm, where he worked for three years. In 1971, he transitioned to public service by joining the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York as an Assistant United States Attorney, focusing on criminal prosecutions. During this period, he worked alongside several attorneys who would go on to notable careers, including John M. Walker Jr., who later became a federal appellate judge, and Richard Ben-Veniste, who gained prominence in various high-profile investigations.

Family considerations prompted Michael to return to West Virginia in 1972, where he became a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of West Virginia. From 1973 to 1975, he entered private practice in Petersburg, West Virginia. He then served as a law clerk to United States District Judge Robert Earl Maxwell of the Northern District of West Virginia from 1975 to 1976, an unusual career move that placed a clerkship after several years of practice rather than immediately following law school.

When John D. Rockefeller IV was elected Governor of West Virginia, Michael joined the governor's administration in 1977, serving as Counsel to the Governor until 1980. This role placed him at the center of state government legal affairs during a formative period in West Virginia's modern political history. In 1981, Michael returned to private practice, joining Jackson Kelly in Charleston, West Virginia, described as the state's oldest and largest law firm. For the next twelve years, he worked as a commercial litigator, handling complex business disputes. During his time in private practice, Michael also became involved in political campaigns, serving at one point as campaign manager for the re-election of United States Senator Robert C. Byrd, one of the most influential political figures in West Virginia history.

Federal appellate service

President Bill Clinton nominated Michael to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on August 6, 1993. The nomination was to fill a seat that had been vacated by Judge James Marshall Sprouse. The United States Senate confirmed Michael on September 30, 1993, and he received his commission on October 1, 1993. He began his judicial service on October 12, 1993. His confirmation carried particular historical significance: Michael became the first federal judge appointed by a Democratic president since Ronald Reagan assumed the presidency in 1981, ending a twelve-year period during which Republican presidents had made all federal judicial appointments.

Michael served on the Fourth Circuit for nearly eighteen years, participating in the resolution of numerous appeals from federal district courts in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The Fourth Circuit during much of Michael's tenure was characterized as the most conservative federal appellate court in the nation, described in contemporary accounts as the "boldest" conservative circuit court during the 1990s. In this environment, Michael frequently found himself in disagreement with his judicial colleagues on various legal questions, reflecting different approaches to constitutional and statutory interpretation.

In 2004, Michael authored the opinion in East Tennessee Natural Gas Co. v. Sage, which addressed questions of condemnation under the Natural Gas Act. This decision became highly influential in subsequent litigation involving similar issues, demonstrating Michael's contribution to the development of federal administrative and property law. Throughout his tenure, he participated in the consideration of appeals spanning the full range of federal jurisdiction, including criminal matters, civil rights cases, administrative law disputes, and commercial litigation.

By the later years of Michael's service, the philosophical composition of the Fourth Circuit began to shift. President Barack Obama appointed several judges to the court during his administration, and these appointments eventually resulted in a majority of the court's active judges having been appointed by Democratic presidents, altering the ideological balance that had characterized the court for decades.

Jurisprudence and legacy

Despite philosophical differences with many of his colleagues, Michael was known for fostering collegiality on the Fourth Circuit. Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, in a 2005 speech that was subsequently published in the Northwestern University Law Review, described how he and Michael would jog together during their spare time when they were in Richmond, Virginia, to hear oral arguments. Wilkinson noted that this personal friendship persisted even though the two judges held very different judicial perspectives, illustrating Michael's commitment to maintaining professional relationships across ideological divides.

Michael's reputation extended beyond the Fourth Circuit. According to newspaper accounts from the summer of 2005, when officials in the administration of President George W. Bush, a Republican, consulted with Senator Robert C. Byrd regarding the United States Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, Byrd suggested that Michael be nominated to fill the seat. This recommendation from a senior Democratic senator to a Republican administration reflected the respect Michael had earned across political lines, though no such nomination materialized.

Michael continued his service on the Fourth Circuit until his death. After a long illness, he died on March 25, 2011, in Charleston, West Virginia, the city where he had spent much of his legal career. He was sixty-eight years old and had served as a federal appellate judge for seventeen and a half years, contributing to the administration of justice in the federal system and to the development of legal doctrine in the Fourth Circuit.